Produced
and Directed by Frank Capra. Based on the novel by James
Hilton. Screenplay by Robert Riskin. Art Direction by
Stephen Goosson. Music by Dimitri Tiomkin. Musical
Direction by Max Steiner. Assistant Director: C. C.
Coleman. Photography by Joseph Walker. Aerial Photography
by Elmer Dyer. Edited by Gene Havlick and Gene Milford.
Costumes by Ernst Dryden. Technical Advisor: Harrison
Forman. Special Effects by E. Roy Davidson and Ganahl
Carson. Interior Decorations by Babs Johnston. 118 min.
Cast: Ronald Colman (Robert Conway), Jane Wyatt (Sondra),
Edward Everett Horton (Alexander P. Lovett), John Howard
(George Conway), Thomas Mitchell (Henry Barnard), Margo
(Maria), Isabel Jewell (Gloria Stone), H. B. Warner
(Chang), Sam Jaffe (High Lama), Hugh Buckler (Lord
Gainsford), John Miltern (Carstairs), Lawrence Grant
(First Man), John Burton (Wynant), John T. Murray
(Meeker), Max Rabinowitz (Seiveking), Willie Fung (Bandit
Leader), Wyrley Birch (Missionary), John Tettener
(Montaigne), Boyd Irwin, (Assistant Foreign Secretary),
Leonard Mudie (Sr. Foreign Secretary), David Clyde
(Steward), Neil Fitzgerald (Radio Operator), Val Durand
(Talu), Ruth Robinson, Margaret McWade (Missionairies),
Noble Johnson (Leader of Porters), Dennis D’Auburn
(Aviator), Milton Owen (Fenner), Victor Wong (Bandit
Leader), Carl Stockdale (Missionary), Beatrice Curtis,
Mary Lou Dix, Beatrice Blinn, Arthur Rankin (Passengers),
Darby Clark (Radio Operator), George Chan (Chinese
Priest), Eric Wilton (Englishman), Chief Big Tree
(Porter), Richard Loo (Shanghai Airport Official). |
| Probably
one the best remembered films of the 1930s, LOST
HORIZON first opened at the Globe Theatre on
March 3rd, 1937, as a two-day performance. Based
on a book, which was first published in 1933 by
famed novelist James Hilton, this property caught
the attention of director Frank Capra, whose
proven track record at Columbia Pictures was
second to none in the picture industry. When he
approached studio chief Harry Cohn, whose
bullying methods were the talk of Hollywood,
Capra pleaded for the go-ahead to purchase the
screen rights. At first, Cohn was apprehensive
when he realized how expensive a project this was
going to be. But, after considering that all of
Capra’s films had been huge hits, he
relented and gave the green light for the $2.5
million production, which was half of the annual
budget for Columbia |
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| Initial
casting for LOST HORIZON wasn’t much of a
problem. Capra had always envisioned Ronald
Colman to play the part of foreign diplomat
Robert Conway, while Walter Connolly was set to
play the High Lama. Unfortunately, after viewing
the dailies or rushes, both Capra and Cohn felt
that portly Walter Connolly looked too hale and
hearty for the role. Next Fritz Leiber was
considered and later they brought in veteran
Henry B. Walthall, whose career dated back to the
early silent era when he starred in pictures for
D. W. Griffith. Sadly, Walthall passed away
before any tests were made and the role
eventually went to stage actor Sam Jaffe, who
proved to be excellent in the finished product.
For the part of the prostitute, Gloria Stone,
who’s dying from tuberculosis, Ronald Colman
stepped in and insisted on casting the actress
whose portrayal of the little seamstress in A
Tale of Two Cities two years earlier brought some
great notices. Before that film, Isabel Jewel was
usually typecast as rather cheap dames or
floozies and both A Tale of Two Cities and LOST
HORIZON were later named as two of her most
important film roles in the thirties. The part of
Robert Conway’s younger brother, George, was
given to juvenile actor John Howard, who would
later play the part of Hugh “Bulldog”
Drummond in a series of ‘B’ movies for
Paramount Pictures. Coincidentally, that role was
first essayed by Ronald Colman in the movie
Bulldog Drummond (1929) and then later in 1934
for the sequel Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back.
Another actor who was considered for the part of
George Conway was newcomer David Niven, who had
been under contract to Samuel Goldwyn, but
producer Harry Cohn felt that he could get Mr.
Howard for a mere pittance. Another interesting
piece of behind the scenes negotiations, Ronald
Colman had it stipulated in his contract that he
would make LOST HORIZON only under the proviso
that he would have absolutely no dealings with
the dictatorial studio head whatsoever! |
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Building
the lavish sets for Shangri-La was an expensive
undertaking with 150 engineers and carpenters
laboriously working day and night to replicate an
elaborate lamasery. Later, some of the critics at
the time balked that the designs looked more like
Frank Lloyd Wright than Tibet! Another point of
interest involved the sequence where the plane
crashes into the snow-covered mountains of the
Himalayas. Frank Capra wanted it to look as
authentic as possible and shot all of the snow
scenes in the Los Angeles Ice Warehouse, which
took up 23 of the film’s 100 day shoot. |
| When
LOST HORIZON was initially previewed, the film
ran over three hours, consisting of a lengthy
framing device or flashback, which ate up a good
portion of the film’s opening as well as the
ending. After a negative reception, director
Frank Capra later stated in his autobiography The
Name Above the Title, that he merely eliminated
the first two reels and after more doctoring, the
film was eventually released at 132 minutes.
Shortly after, another cut was imminent because
exhibitors had complained that the film was still
too long, so it was finally whittled down to 118
minutes. When the Academy Award nominations were
announced the following year, the picture was
nominated for six awards including Best Picture,
Best Supporting Actor (H. B. Warner as Chang),
Best Musical Score (Dimitri Tiomkin), Best Sound
Recording (John Livadary), Best Art Direction
(Stephen Goosson), and Best Film editing (Gene
Havlick and Gene Milford). When the winners were
announced, only the latter two had won. It’s
a shame that Ronald Colman wasn’t even
nominated because, next to A Tale of Two Cities,
this remains his best-remembered film role.
Immediately following LOST HORIZON, he starred in
another great film, one of the best romantic
swashbucklers ever, The Prisoner of Zenda, which
made the year 1937 a banner one for Mr. Colman! |
|
| Five
years later in 1942, Columbia Pictures decided to
re-release LOST HORIZON after President Roosevelt
had declared that our “American planes had
taken off from Shangri-La” in his famous
speech after General Doolittle had bombed Japan
from a secret base. But now, there was further
cutting (down to 108 minutes) and the film was
retitled Lost Horizon of Shangri-La. For years,
this was the version shown on television until a
musical remake was released in 1973, a total flop
with Peter Finch, Liv Ullmann and Charles Boyer,
thus keeping the original off of the airwaves
until 1986. However, archivists and historians
were curiously trying to uncover the longer
version and when they pressed Columbia Pictures
for prints of the original cut, the studio found,
to its dismay, that the original nitrate negative
had decomposed in the mid-sixties. Thankfully, a
print was found at the British Film Institute of
the 118 minute version and years hence some more
footage was found, utilizing both 35mm and 16mm
materials and an attempt was made to restore the
complete 132 minute version, with archivists
scouring archives worldwide. The result was the
complete soundtrack with approximately three
minutes of missing picture footage and the
results are fascinating to say the least. . |
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Notes Menu
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